The Physical Self: The
Self as Impacted by
the Body
Lesson 5
Self Understanding
• According to Santrock (2014), self
understanding is the individual’s
cognitive representation of the self
which consists of the substance and
the content of self-conceptions
Growing Up
• It is the stage that parents should respect
their teenagers’ privacy and allow them
enough to grow.
• The physical self refers to the concrete
dimension in their of the body, a tangible
aspect of the person which can be directly
observed and examine.
• Physical characteristics are the defining
traits or features of the person’s body.
• Erik Erikson believed in the importance of
the body from early development.
• William James considered body as the initial
source of sensation and necessary for the
origin and maintenance of personality.
• WHO describes adolescents as young
people whose age ranges from 10-19.
Three Periods of Adolescence
1. Early Adolescence (11-14)
2. Middle Adolescence (15-17)
3. Late Adolescence (18-21)
Puberty: A Period of
Rapid Physical Change
• According to Santrock, puberty is not the same
as adolescence because puberty ends prior to
the end of adolescence
• Puberty is a brain-neuroendocrine process
occurring primarily in early adolescence that
triggers rapid physical changes that occur in the
adolescent stage of human development.
BODY IMAGE
• Body image refers to the way one sees himself or
herself or the way he or she imagines how he or
she looks.
• Imaginary audience is an egocentric state where
the individual imagines and believes that many
people are actively listening or watching him or
her.
• In social psychology, it is called as spotlight
effect.
FACTORS THAT AFFECT
PERCEPTION OF THE
PHYSICAL SELF
Personal Factors
a. Introspection and Self-reflection
- process by which one observes and
examines one’s internal state (mental and
emotional) after behaving in a certain way.
b. Self Perception Theory
- people can infer their inner states by
observing their own behavior – as if they are
an outside observer
• c. Self Concept
- individual’s perception or
description of his physical self.
d. Personal Identity
- the concept a person has
about himself that develops over
the years.
SOCIAL FACTORS
• a. Attachment Process and Social
Appraisal
- people learn about what their value and
lovability when they experience how their
mothers or caregivers care for them and
respond to their needs.
b. Maintaining, Regulating and
Expanding the Self in Interpersonal
Relationships
- sense of self in continuously shaped through
on-going interactions with others or with
significant relationship with partners.
c. Looking-glass Self Theory
- Self image is shaped and reflected
from the social word.
-Reflected appraisal are inferences
regarding other’s appraisal of a person.
d. Social Comparisons
- process of comparing oneself with others
in order to evaluate one’s own abilities and
opinions.
- 2 Types of Social Comparison
* Upward Social Comparison
* Downward Social Comparison
e. Social Identity Theory (Collective
Identity)
- framework about how people
achieve understanding about
themselves by being a member of their
group.
• Identity is a description of who a
person is, his roles, likes and dislikes, as
well as his history or experiences based
on his understandings of himself.
The Impact of Culture on
Body Image and Self-Esteem
and the Importance of Beauty
• Culture is defined as a social system that is
characterized by the shared meanings that
are attributed to people and events by its
members.
• Young adolescents are force to adhere to
society’s definition of beauty
• Beauty is the quality of being physically
attractive or the qualities in a person or
thing that give pleasure to the senses or the
mind
The body image created by the
adolescent which includes
perception and feelings about
oneself could either be positive or
negative.
The Filipino Concept of
Beauty
• Eurocentrism is defined a tendency to
interpret the world in terms of European or
Anglo-American values and experience.
• The ‘tisoy’ and ‘tisay’ beauty standards is
strongly promoted in media, further, media is
perpetuating the idea that the European
standard of beauty is the only thing can be
deemed as beautiful.
• Colorism is defined as the prejudicial or
preferential treatment of same-race people
based solely on the color of their skin.
• Dark skin Filipinos tend to have a negative
body image.
• The message society gives is that flat noses
and dark complexions do not define
beauty.
• Eurocentrism and colorism have significant
effects on the body image and identities of
Filipino
SELF ESTEEM AND THE
IDEAL BODY IMAGE
• Self esteem is the universal evidence
that a person has of himself which
can be positive or negative, high or
low.
• How valuable to himself and others
the person perceives himself to be.
• Physical appearance is one of the
factors that affect person’s self-
esteem
ADOLESCENT’S BODY IMAGE
1. Perception of their Physical Self when they
look in the mirror
2. Feelings of dislike about the Physical Self
they see
3. Their thoughts and how they relate to their
physical self
4. Perception of how others view them
physically.
• A person with a low self-esteem may not
perceive himself as beautiful
• This evaluation of is physical self will make
him seek ways to attain a kind of body that
will be at par with society’s concept of
beauty.
Aspects in Culture
Aspects in Culture that may led to the
aforementioned misconceptions:
1. Society’s ideals of the perfect physical form
for women and men
2. Images of perfection adolescents see in
all types of media
3. Any characteristic that does not conform
to the standard is labelled as ugly.
• These misconceptions strongly affect how
the young form their body image and its
influence on their self esteem.
• Adhering to the popular standards means
that everybody will look the same which is
unrealistic and impossible.
THANK YOU!
